Days after the revelation that a multi-billion-pound project to create a computerised NHS patient record system is to be dismantled, the founder of a patient-controlled medical records scheme says business is booming and turnover has trebled this year.

Healthy: Mohammad Al-Ubaydli, chief executive of Patients Know Best

Mohammad Al-Ubaydli, chief executive of Patients Know Best, which won additional funding last week of £25,000 from social enterprise fund UnLtd, says: ‘This is really good for us and every time there are announcements like this from the NHS we see an increase in sales. People like the fact that with Patients Know Best the patient has control.

‘It is a really big market and nobody else has managed to do it properly. Google gave up three months ago because it didn’t have the right software and we think Microsoft, the only other contender, will give up for the same reason.’

The idea for the scheme, which is designed to help co-ordinate care among specialists and institutions, came about after Al-Ubaydli, who has a long-term illness, realised that doctors and clinicians often relied on him to provide important information about his medical history.

Patients can use the company site to communicate securely with their clinicians, for example to ask questions about the use of certain drugs, to send test results or access medical notes.

Great Ormond Street Hospital in central London is among the company’s users.

BT is set to receive a further £1 billion from the controversial £12 billion NHS record system. BT is not in negotiation over its part of the scheme.